Okay, it's been a while, but we were finishing up work and trying to get things done so we could enjoy Beijing. To the left is the hotel we are staying at. Looks like it is crumbling down, but I think it was built for the Olympics. We are about 2Km from the Bird's Nest and all of the other facilities. The hotel is only 45 a night and the room is pretty nice (and free internet!). We got here around 12 this afternoon and walked around till about 5 (see pics below). We ended up eating at a chinese fast food type place. I had some dim sum rolls, kung pao chicken and rice, a 24 oz beer and a cup of milk tea for 11 bucks. Couldn't even finish half of it. (Drank all the beer though). We may be loading up on the free breakfast and hitting this place at night.


This is a pic of the torch building you may have seen during the Olympics. I didn't see a lot of it, but i do remember seeing this building and remembering the torch shape.











A pic of the swimming place, the Water Cube where Phelps did his magic. We didn't go in today. It has an admission and your time inside is limited due to space. We are going to try and catch it one afternoon when we have more time.







A shot from inside the Bird's Nest looking down the track. We paid 50 RMB (a little over 7 bucks) to get inside and you could stay as long as you wanted to. They had some exhibits in the middle and the screens playing highlights from the games. Pretty neat looking at things from the middle.






A pic of me in front of the Bird's Nest. This is for Kelli who wanted to see me in some pics. It is windy and cold here compared to Guangzhou. We also ran into our co-worker in the stadium by chance. He took a week in the middle of his tour of duty over here and has his family with him.

The plan tomorrow is to get up early and catch a city bus to the Great Wall. There are tours that go for 350 RMB (about 50 bucks) and provide lunch, but i think we are going to do it on our own. We can catch a city bus for 12 RMB (about a buck and a half) and do the wall on our own time. Hopefully I will get some good pics. That is going to take up the whole day. We will then have Sat and Sun to do something else. Maybe Forbiddin City. Beijing seems a world away from Guangzhou in differences. In the little we have ventured out, it seems that it was almost easier to communicate in Guangzhou than Beijing. Would have thought with the Olympics just here it would be easy to get around and talk. Go figure. In Guangzhou we would get some stares from the locals. Here it is almost a little unnerving though. People seem to stare at us so long and so intently that it is a little scary, like they have never seen a non-asian. Again, wouldn't have thought that with the Olympics here not too long ago.